Survival
by azechill
Summary: Set immediately after the first movie, following Neo's defeat of the Agents inside the Matrix. What if Neo's encounter with Agents in the Matrix had left him seriously wounded in the real world? Will Trinity be able to save him a second time?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story is set immediately after the first movie, following Neo's defeat of the agents inside the Matrix. This story explores what might have happened to Neo in the real world as a result of his injuries in the Matrix, and explores a little of Trinity and Neo's relationship.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

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Trinity used her body to shield Neo's prone form when the EMP blew. As the Neb went dark, she could only pray that he had made it out of the Matrix in time.

Neo was in agony as he regained consciousness on the Neb. It was unlike any pain he had ever felt, leagues beyond the aftermath of even the most brutal training simulators. It felt as though someone had crushed his entire torso. Nearly fainting, he gasped, "Oh... shit..." Clenching his jaw and swallowing hard against the pain, he dug his nails into the arms of the jack-in chair, steadied his ragged breathing, and willed himself to focus on the face hovering over him. It was Trinity, her eyes full of concern. "Trin..." he breathed, "I thought I'd never see you again."

Trinity could clearly see that Neo was in a significant amount of pain. She smiled weakly, leaning in to place a small kiss on his lips. His body responded with more strength than he felt he had. Reaching up and gently placing a hand on her delicate neck, he pulled her into a deep, grateful kiss. _God, she tastes good,_ thought Neo, his heart began to race as the kiss intensified, and the pain from his injuries was muted by endorphins. Trinity was similarly elated, reveling in the sensation of his warm, soft lips against her own, the feel of his hands on her body, the yearning intensity of his mouth as it captured her own. She came crashing back to earth when she tasted blood.

"God, Neo... you're bleeding..." she muttered, breaking their kiss. She caressed his ashen cheek with the back of her hand. His skin was clammy. "I'll be fine, Trin. Don't--" a low, guttural moan escaped his lips as he felt his chest constrict painfully. He covered his mouth as he was overcome by a fit of coughing. His battered body trembled from the effort of it. When the spell had ended, his eyes were moist and the back of his shirt sleeve was spattered with blood, "...fuck!" he spat, refusing to meet Trinity's eyes. This was the last thing they needed right now.

"_Your mind makes it real,"_ Morpheous's words echoed in Neo's head as he struggled to come to terms with reality.

No one had ever survived a Matrix death. Neo had taken a clip of bullets to the chest and abdomen. He was alive-- for now-- but what injuries had he sustained in the real world? Were they life-threatening? Fear seized Trinity's heart, they had to get him to Zion.

"Morpheus!" Trinity shouted to their captain, who was attending to Tank's wounds, "Neo's hurt, I'm taking him to med bay." She unbuckled his restraints and helped him struggle to his feet. He let out a stream of curses, and his step faltered, "I can't...I can't...shit this hurts, Trin! Oh god..." he panted, sagging in her arms.

Trinity was having none of it, she grabbed his face and turned it towards her, "Look at me, Neo!" his eyes were hazy and full of pain. Beads of sweat now covered his brow, Trinity used her own sleeve to wipe it away, "I know," she murmured, "I know it hurts, Neo. Here, lean on me." she said gently.

Draping his arm over her shoulder, Trinity hoisted as much of his weight as she could manage, Neo gritted his teeth to keep from crying out as new waves of agony tore through him with each step. Slowly, they made their way to the ships med bay.

She helped him onto the examination table, a groan escaped his lips as he laid back onto the cold metal surface, his eyes never leaving Trinity. By now, an alarming amount of blood from Neo's wounds had seeped through the front of his shirt. Neo felt the wetness of the shirt where it clung to his body, and reached down to touch it. Bringing his hand up to his face, he saw that his fingers were covered in blood.

His breath caught in his throat and his eyes rolled back, the room was spinning. Trinity grasped his hand firmly and looked into his eyes, "Stay with me, Neo." she implored, "I'll be right back." He nodded vaguely, "Ok, Trin," he muttered. She squeezed his hand once more and went to raid the med bay supply closet. She returned minutes later with scissors, bandages, antiseptic solution, and pain medication that would normally be used to alleviate pain from a headache.

The Neb didn't stock heavy duty pain killers. The strongest pain killers are opiate based, and derived from certain species plants. Zion has large hydroponic facilities that provide its residents with essential plant products, primarily algae-- because it is cheap and easy to grow, harvest and process. Due to the rarity of suitable agriculture space in Zion, and the energy required to cultivate plants below ground, only a small percentage of hydroponic facilities bother cultivating plants with opioid properties, making opiate based drugs prohibitively expensive.

Given that the nature of hovercraft crews' work was in the virtual world, and serious injury inside usually meant an unconscious death in the real world, the Zion Council did not feel that it was necessary or appropriate to provide its defense forces with these expensive pain killers.

Trinity silently cursed the Council's spendthrift mentality under her breath, and gave Neo as much as he could take of the pain killer she had found in the supply closet. Neo's body relaxed somewhat as the medication took the edge off of his pain.

Trinity cut Neo's shirt free using scissors, revealing a severely bruised torso covered in deep lacerations. She sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of his injuries, and marveled that he had managed to remain conscious during the walk from his jack-in chair to med bay. He was looking at her now, his eyes half-lidded, "Trin..." he murmured. "Hmm?" she responded, leaning in to hear him better, "Did you mean it?" Trinity paused, puzzled, "Did I mean what?" his eyes closed, seconds of silence passed, "Neo?" he had slipped out of consciousness.

He was very likely suffering from internal bleeding and, considering the blood he was coughing up, his lungs had been damaged. Her heart sank. There was nothing they could do for him on the Neb, other than bandage his wounds and try to keep him comfortable. If Neo's injuries were severe enough, there was a good chance he would die before they reached Zion.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

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Neo passed in and out of consciousness as Tinity worked quickly to close the many, deep wounds that covered his torso. _Thank god he's mostly out of it,_she thought, gratefully.

Grateful for the field medicine sims she had been put through during Officer training, she used alcohol to clean his wounds, and surgical thread and a sterile needle to close them.

On the few occasions that Neo woke and was lucid enough to realize that Trinity was sewing him up, his face became drawn with pain, his body stiffened under her hands, and his shallow breaths quickened. The pain medication she'd given him earlier wasn't doing shit for him now. He could feel the burning sting of alcohol, every painstaking pass of the needle through his damaged flesh, as Trinity cleaned and closed the wounds. Then she would apply pressure to stem the flow of blood, and he passed out from the agony of it.

She mumbled reassurances to him in these moments, "Hold on, Neo, I'm almost done... hold on... I know this hurts..." as exhausted as she was,she didn't know where she found the words, she was running on pure adrenalin. She hoped her voice brought him some small comfort. As quickly as he had been there with her, he would slip away again, his face going slack, his body relaxing again as she continued her work in silence.

Though he never cried out, she felt terrible to have caused him more suffering. He'd been though so much already, and would endure a lot more en route to Zion over the next few days, _if he makes it though the night_, she thought grimly.

His wounds were deep and he had lost a lot of blood, he needed a transfusion. The Neb had neither the blood materials, nor the equipment, to perform a transfusion. She realized, they didn't even know his blood type.

Stitching up someone you care about never got any easier, Trinity though, and she cared more about Neo right now than anyone else she had ever known. A fellow soldier, her friend, the man she loved. The man who loved her. Seeing him like this was mental torture for her.

Her mind took her back to the events immediately following his unplugging. He'd spent his first few weeks in the Neb's med bay, his muscles being rebuilt a little bit at a time. All of that equipment was destroyed now, what the squiddies didn't mangle, the EMP blast took out. He had seemed so frail to her back then, it seemed so long ago now. He'd become so strong, so powerful, and yet, he appeared to her more frail now than ever.

She finished suturing the last of the lacerations on Neo's chest, and wiped down his torso with alcohol one more time. She needed to wrap bandages around his torso to apply enough pressure to help stop the bleeding. At the moment, he was still unconscious, so she took the opportunity to go check on Morpheous and Tank.

Tank was bandaged up and sitting in the Operators chair, he was deeply engrossed in running diagnostics on the Neb's servers. He looked exhausted. Most processes were back up and running, but since they hadn't been allowed a graceful shutdown he had to be sure that no files were corrupted.

Morpheous was in the core standing at the main console, trying to get the ship's life support systems back online. The EMP blast had fried some of the chips that contained instructions that the ship's environmental controllers read from. The Neb's environmental controllers regulated such processes as oxygen levels, temperature, water cycling, and waste management. Morpheous swapped out the dead hardware with some spare parts he had lying around, and was installing the life support firmware when Trinity walked in.

"How's Neo?" Morpheous asked without looking away from his work. "He's out of it," replied Trinity, "He's hurt pretty badly, Morpheous... he took quite a beating from the agents. Logs of deep tissue bruising. Deep lacerations on his torso, from the bullets. He's been coughing up blood."

"That is unfortunate," said Morpheous, his voice full of concern, turning to look at her he asked, "Will he live?" his brow creased with worry.

Trinity sighed, looking at the ground, and then back up at her captain, "I'm.... I'm not sure... he needs real medical care. I'm doing all I can for him, but there's not much more I can do but just try to keep him as comfortable as possible."

Morpheous nodded, "He is the One... we have to trust in the Prophecy. If the Prophecy is right, then Neo will not die. He was reborn inside the Matrix for a reason, Trinity." Morpheous finished, with conviction.

Trinity wasn't so sure, "I have to go check on him," she said, and headed back to med bay. She had never been as blindly trusting of the Prophecy as Morpheous was. He took everything about the Prophecy literally, and she preferred to think of it as more of a mythology than anything else.

She brushed her hand against Neo's cheek. His eyes opened, "Mmm... Trin?" he murmured groggily. "I'm here, Neo." she replied.

"Where am I?" he asked. "You're in med bay on the Neb. I just finished fixing you up." she said, "I need you to sit up so that I can apply some pressure bandages." He swallowed hard, "Let's do this." Trinity put a hand on his forehead, it felt cool to the touch, "I'll help you." Neo nodded, "Thanks, Trin."

She put one hand behind his neck, and held his hand with the other. Electricity passed through her when she touched him. In spite of herself, and the circumstances, she was smitten.

Trinity started to help Neo ease himself into a sitting position. They hadn't gotten very far when Neo cried out in pain. "Fuck..." he grated out through clenched teeth, "hang on, Trin... I have to... I can't..." he slurred, it took every ounce of strength he had not to fall back onto the examination table. His arms shook from the effort of holding him in that position.

Trinity was behind him in an instant, supporting him, keeping him from slipping. Black spots danced in Neo's vision, and he almost passed out again. Sweat broke out on his forehead. His skull felt like it was being jackhammered. "I feel terrible, Trin." he said, "I mean... like shit... complete shit. I've never..." he swallowed again, looking away.

"You've lost a lot of blood," replied Trinity, "if I don't get some pressure bandages applied to your wounds, you're going to lose even more. And you really can't afford to lose any more blood." she stated, "You ready?" He nodded yes. She carefully began hoisting him to sitting position, until he was finally upright. The room spun.

Waves of nausea overwhelmed him and, before he knew what was happening, he was leaning over the examination table heaving. Every time his stomach clenched, it made him want to scream. Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes as he gripped the edge of the table like it was the only thing keeping him from falling off of the edge of the world. His stomach was empty, but punishing heaves wracked his body again and again, bringing up only bile. Trinity was holding his head now, her hand felt cool and soothing. Black eclipsed his vision.


	3. Chapter 3

Neo's vision blurred as he heaved again, he gagged and coughed to expel the bile and saliva that rose in the back of his throat. Choking back a sob, he spat, trying without success to rid his mouth of the bitter, metallic taste. Suddenly, everything was turning black. Blood rushed in his ears, his heart raced, and he felt his body pitch forward as darkness descended and the floor rose up to meet him.

The last thing he was aware of before unconsciousness took him was Trinity's cry, "Neo!" and suddenly her arms were around his chest, supporting him and breaking his fall.

******

Neo's impact with the med bay floor caused several of his sutures to break open; the wounds began bleeding heavily. Trinity worked quickly to re-suture the lacerations and stem the flow of blood while Neo remained blessedly unconscious. He was ghastly pale, his breaths coming in shallow, ragged gasps.

Reluctantly, she left him lying on the floor of med bay and went to get Morpheous. He would have to help her apply the pressure bandages, and carry Neo to his quarters.

*******

"My god..." Morpheous whispered when he reached med bay. He wasn't sure how it was possible that Neo was still alive. The bruising, the blood, the ghastly wounds covering his torso, "Trinity..." he said, his voice weighted with anxiety.

"I know." she replied shakily, "if... if he lives, he'll have an incredible set of scars to show for it." She tried to make light, but her eyes and her voice betrayed her. The comment felt inappropriate as soon as the words left her lips, a sick feeling began to build in the pit of her stomach when she looked down at Neo.

"He'll make it," said Morpheous, with as much confidence as he could muster, though he hadn't even managed to convince himself. He hadn't seen Trinity and Neo's passionate kiss earlier, but he knew what the Oracle had told her all those years ago, he knew that she would fall in love with the One.

He also knew Trinity very well. She was never one to wear her emotions on her sleeve but, tonight, they were written all over her. It was so obviously clear to Morpheous that something significant had transpired between the two of them, everything was different now. He could see that she was concerned for Neo in ways that were above and beyond what is required of a superior officer. Feelings that had been brewing since they freed Neo from the Matrix, had at last been realized-- tonight had been the catalyst.

Morpheous hefted Neo's weight from the floor, placing him back onto the examination table and holding him upright while Trinity quickly wound layers of gauze around his torso, pulling it tight. On top of the gauze, she wrapped strips of protective white cloth, pinning them snugly in place. Neo's head lolled as she finished her work. A groan escaped his lips, "Sounds like he's coming around," said Morpheous, "Let's get him to his quarters."

They carried Neo to his room down the hall and eased him gently onto the narrow bunk in his room. Trinity made short work of hooking up an IV to the port in his arm. She made another trip to med bay, and returned with an IV bag filled with an electrolyte-rich solution, "This should help stabilize him." she said. When the human body loses excessive amounts of fluid-- in Neo's case, blood-- it also loses dangerous amounts of nutrients and ions that are required in order for the body to maintain the internal conditions necessary for sustaining life-- homeostasis.

"We should take turns sitting with him." said Morpheous, "You're exhausted, let me go first." he offered.

"No, I'm fine." said Trinity, brushing back errant strands of hair from her face, "I'll stay with him. First, do you need help with.... with the others?" Through everything that had happened since the Sentinel attack, neither Trinity, Morpheous nor Tank had had time to dwell on the fact that the bodies of their fallen comrades lay on the floor upstairs, hastily covered with white sheets.

Morpheous shook his head, "No, Tank and I will take care of them. Stay here with Neo, try to get some rest," he turned to leave, "let me know if there's anything else I can do."

Trinity nodded gratefully, relief evident in her posture as her shoulders sagged and she sat down heavily on Neo's bunk. She squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her temples where a headache was beginning to form. Her mind reeled as she reflected on the day's events. She had lost her family, her crew... almost lost her captain... been betrayed by someone she trusted... and fallen in love with humanity's savior.

She turned to look at Neo, he was still out cold. She cradled his head gently in her lap, lightly running a hand over his short, stubbly hair, she found the sensation calming. "I love you, Neo,"she whispered, leaning down to kiss his brow. Restless sleep found her quickly, she dozed off to the sound of Morpheous and Tank talking quietly as they went about their grim task.

**********

Trinity woke with a start hours later, she hadn't meant to do more than doze. Her body immediately tensed as the day's events came flooding back, and she felt as though someone placed heavy weights on her chest and shoulders. In spite of the rest, she was still completely mentally and physically exhausted. The ship was silent, she could only assume that Morpheous and Tank had gone to bed. She shrugged her shoulders and stretched where she sat, still stiff from her sleeping position.

Neo was still unconscious, but some color was starting to return to his cheeks. It seemed that the IV was working. She carefully unpinned and peeled back the layers of cloth strips that covered his torso, and checked his dressings. He was still bleeding. The bandages would need to be changed again soon. _God damn it, _she muttered under her breath, _he just can't catch a break._ Reassured by the knowledge that he was, at least, still breathing and, as far as she could tell no worse for wear, Trinity fell into a light doze.

**********

Trinity was slowly roused from her state of half-sleep by the sounds of wet, raspy breathing. She looked down at Neo, his eyes were cracked slightly, he stared listlessly up at the ceiling, straight through her. He was starting to come around. She noticed with alarm that there was blood at the corners of his mouth. She watched him for several minutes, he lay very still, his eyes falling closed again. His breathing was slow and labored.

She was startled when Neo began to cough weakly. His eyes came to rest on her, and his hand reached out instinctively. She took his hand and brought it to her lips, kissing his fingers lightly before enveloping it in her own. She rubbed his hand soothingly and murmured reassurances to him, wishing there was something more she could do.

His brow furrowed as the coughing fit intensified, his hand that wasn't holding hers went instinctively to his midsection as stabbing pains shot through him. She watched in horror as his lips blossomed crimson and he began to choke. He grunted from the discomfort as she quickly turned him onto his side, "Sorry..." she whispered anxiously, "...I had to."

Once Neo was lying on his side, his breathing eased somewhat, "Thanks, Trin." he murmured, exhausted. Trinity used a clean towel to wipe the blood from his lips, "How difficult is breathing?" she asked. Neo responded slowly, "Only... a little, right now.... but... it's getting worse." he closed his eyes again, "It's worse now than it was right after. Something... happened to me..." Trinity nodded, "Your lungs were damaged when you were shot." He didn't respond.

Neither of them wanted to talk about his chances of surviving the trip to Zion, though it was all that was on both of their minds. So instead, they settled into a comfortable silence.

Trinity rubbed his back soothingly, careful not to disturb the bruises, "Neo..." she whispered sadly, "Hmm?" he responded quietly, his voice husky from sleep. She'd had time to think about what he asked her earlier: _Did you mean it?_ She felt stupid when she realized what it was. He was talking about her confession of love. While he lay dead in the jack-in chair after being struck down by agents, she had said: _I love you. _"I meant it." she responded at last.

Neo turned his body slightly so that he was facing Trinity, wincing when the motion tugged at his sutures, "Trin..." he murmured, a slight smile playing on his lips. "I've loved you since... from the moment I saw you..." he confessed, "I'm glad you weren't a guy." he smirked.

Trinity smiled back, shaking her head, she leaned in to place a small kiss on his lips, "You need rest. Goodnight, Neo."

"Goodnight, Trin." he whispered drowsily.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! More please. :)

In this chapter I flesh out a little of Neo's past, it's mostly nerd-speak. I don't see enough Matrix fanfics that go into much detail about hacking/computing/technology... I want to change that, so look for more to come in future chapters.

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Neo woke to find Trinity kneeling on the floor beside his bunk, wiping his face with a cool, damp cloth. Going by the dark circles under her eyes, he guessed that they had slept for a few hours, at best. This was his last coherent thought before the pain returned with a vengeance. "Shit..." he murmured hoarsely, his face twisted in agony as he clenched fist-fulls of bedding. Almost immediately, he felt Trinity's hand on his forehead, soothing him, "I'm here, Neo..." she murmured, "I'm here... just try to breathe, slowly, in... and out." she urged. He groaned in response, and her heart broke for him. There was nothing she could do, and she hated feeling powerless.

He started to take a deep breath, and it caught in his throat as he began coughing-- he could not suppress the urge-- sharp pains shot through his chest and down his ribcage. He gritted his teeth as his mouth filled with blood, and he started to choke. Trinity reacted quickly, lifting his head and placing a basin under his mouth that he could spit into.

She wiped his lips and chin as he panted to catch his breath, "It's getting worse," she stated, her voice quavering. The fact that he hadn't already drowned meant that, whatever trauma his lungs had sustained, probably was not life threatening in and of itself.

The tricky part was that, in his condition, coughing was very painful and aggravated his other injuries. He had to cough up the fluid in his lungs or risk developing a serious infection. Trinity had seen similar injuries in others who had been subjected to extreme chest trauma-- such as car accidents in the Matrix, or explosions. He needed a doctor, badly, but for now they would have to manage as best they could without one.

When he had regained enough composure to speak, he said, with surprising humor given the circumstances, "You look pretty rough."

Trinity quirked her mouth, "You're one to talk," she replied wryly. Leaning in, she kissed him tenderly on the mouth, lingering on his bottom lip. In spite of the dull agony that ricocheted through his body with each heartbeat, a small moan of pleasure rose in his throat as she nibbled playfully. Trinity smiled to herself, satisfied. _ At least I can do this much for him, _she thought.

They parted, and her hand moved to caress his cheek. He swallowed, exhaling sharply at the loss of her lips. For someone who seldom made a display of her sexuality, she was very good at this game, Neo thought.

"I brought you something," she said, her voice was tinged with anxiety as her eyes roamed up and down his broken body. "Here, you'll have to sit up a bit first," she had brought him water, more pain medication, and some goop.

She elevated his upper body as best she could by folding the thin pillow on his bunk, and gave him the pain tablets. Wincing, he took them, and reached for the cup of water, swallowing greedily. "Drink slowly, you're very dehydrated." she cautioned. "Mmmk" he muttered into the cup between gulps of water.

At last, he returned the empty cup to her. "Are you hungry?" asked Trinity. Neo waved the notion away, paling further at the thought of food, especially the dreaded "Hovercraft Goop"-- Serviceman's Slop, Real-World Rations, Apocalyptical Ambrosia. No matter the number of comical names that Crews came up with to refer to the "goop", it was still just a bowl of snot, and the thought of it made his stomach churn even on a good day. He gagged. Trinity took a hint and quickly moved the bowl out of sight.

"I'm going to check your bandages," she knew before she looked that it wasn't good news. Blood had seeped through and stained the cloth bandages she applied earlier. She carefully cut away the layers of fabric and gauze to find that, sure enough, several of his wounds were still bleeding. The bruises had become more severe with time-- dark purples, blues, and reds. Looking at some of the bruises on his ribcage, she suspected that he must have several broken ribs.

"Jesus, Neo... you're still bleeding." she shook her head, perplexed, "The coughing is making it worse. I'll give some time for the pain medication to work, and then I'll re-dress these." Neo nodded gratefully.

They lapsed into silence, preoccupied with their own thoughts. Neo fixed his eyes on Trinity, studying her, memorizing her porcelain features. _My god, she's beautiful, she's perfect, _he kept thinking. She was gorgeous, independent, and a brilliant hacker to boot.

Women like Trinity did not come along every day, _especially for geeks like me,_ he thought. Hell, most men never got a shot with a woman like her... she was the type that you pined after, the sort that never reciprocated your feelings. She was the kind of woman that set the bar for all others. And yet, _she loves me_, his heart fluttered.

Trinity broke his reverie, "So... why did you get into hacking?" she asked. Neo cleared his throat, embarrassed, "What do you mean? Why did I start... or why did I work at it as much as I did?"

Trinity smiled, "You tell me yours, I'll tell you mine. We don't really know much about one another's life in the Matrix-- who we were before." She resumed wiping his brow with the cool, damp cloth. Neo was grateful for her ministrations, he reveled in the soothing feel of her touch.

"Well..." he began, "I've always been obsessed with... trying to figure out how things work." She nodded, this was an obsession close to her own heart, "When I was a kid, I didn't have a computer. They were too expensive, and for hobbyists. So I hacked lots of things before I hacked code."

"What sorts of things?" asked Trinity, her hand moved to the bottle of antiseptic she'd used to clean his wounds earlier. "At first I... liked to take things apart, and put them back together" he eyed the bottle warily, "My dads camera, my alarm clock, radios, foobar'd electronics that people put out with the trash. Anything I could get my hands on."

She moistened clean strips of cloth with antiseptic, and began to wipe down his abdomen. Neo squeezed his eyes shut, his lips parted and he inhaled sharply. "Go on," she encouraged him. "...shit... Trin... that _really_ stings." he gasped, "...I- I liked to take things apart, change the way they work-- you know, make them better, or different-- and then put them back together. It didn't always work."

"I see," remarked Trinity, not looking up from her work, "sounds like me when I was a kid."

"I got a computer when I was 16, in lieu of a car." he said, "My parents didn't see the point of it, but I asked so many times-- also lied and said I would use it to write papers for school-- eventually they gave in." he smirked.

Trinity raised an eyebrow, "Junior's first foray into social engineering?" she teased.

"Depends on who you ask," he replied, smugly. "Imagine how it felt to take the school bus as a senior. I couldn't engineer my way out of that. But, I considered it a worthy trade-off." he shrugged.

"So, they bought me an IBM 5150-- the thing had a blazing 4.77 mega-hertz processor and 128 kilo-bytes of memory. I used my savings to buy a BASIC programming book, and wrote my first 'Hello, World' that day." he smiled at the memory.

Trinity groaned, "BASIC!" she made a face, "Ugh... well, was that the beginning of a love affair?"

Neo laughed softly, "With computing, yes-- but not BASIC." he cringed, "I never bothered with computer classes in school-- I wasn't their audience. Me and a few friends would usually meet up on the weekends for hacking sessions, we churned out a few interesting little pieces of software, but nothing any of the big companies were interested in buying. I started contributing to open source projects in college, once the World Wide Web got big. Majored in CS... took six years to graduate... then..."

"Then?" said Trinity.

"I don't know... I just, felt the need to embrace the less... ethical aspects of computing?" he said, grinning sheepishly. "I mean, I had a day job... actually, I've had several full time programming gigs over the years. They never presented enough of a challenge... you know? It always felt like I was missing out on something. Like I wasn't pushing myself hard enough. I got bored quickly with my assignments."

Trinity nodded, understanding exactly what he meant, "The conventional rules and limitations of a day job... having to do everything by the book. Kind of takes the joy out of coding. Makes you pine for... more. It was the same for me."

Neo nodded slowly, "Before I knew it, I was dabbling in black hat stuff. Started out writing scripts to systematically check server farms for server config inconsistencies-- vulnerabilities, exploits, dumb shit passwords. The sysadmin's oversight was my gain. Sometimes I'd offer to plug the holes for a nominal fee... in other cases I'd leach a few credit card numbers, and sell them on IRC." Trinity nodded, she'd played similar games.

"Then I moved on to bigger stuff-- writing code that would take down an entire corporate network, cause them to lose terabytes of data, and millions of dollars. I never worked for money in those days, all I cared about was reputation. Believe it or not, I was frequently approached by people claiming that they represented large corporations... inter-corporation warfare, Trin? Sounds like something out of a cyberpunk novel, huh?" he squinted, shaking his head.

"And yet," said Trinity, "truth is stranger than fiction."

Neo snorted, "Tell me about it. Anyway, after I got into that heavy stuff... I was always looking over my shoulder... especially after I made the mistake of hacking for money. I had built up a reputation, a client list, and people in the scene knew who 'Neo' was." he shook his head. "Then I got this feeling that I was missing something-- that the world in front of me wasn't the truth." he started at his hands. "That's when I started searching."

"Mmhmm," she said, finishing up cleansing the last of his wounds, "You uh... ever pull off any really big scams?" she asked.

"Nothing like the IRS database. But.. I had my wins and my scrapes. I'll have to tell you about them sometime. Can't show all my cards right now." he grinned.

"Ok..." said Trinity, "Let's get you wrapped up before the pain meds wear off. Here, I'm going to pull you up and drape your arms over my shoulders."

Neo paled visibly, suddenly feeling nauseous, "Alright."

Trinity grasped Neo's wrists, and pulled him into a sitting position. He cried out in agony as the weight of his upper body came down on his broken torso. He bit his lip hard, drawing blood, and the fresh agony pulled him back from the abyss of unconsciousness he desperately wanted to fall into. Trinity pulled him close, draping one arm over each of her shoulders until their faces were inches apart.

Neo's eyes were rolling back in his head now. She could feel him trembling, feel the hot little puffs of air against her cheek he panted shallowly, "Triiinnnnn..." he pleaded, "put me out of my misery, already," he slurred.

She felt awful for doing this to him, "I'll be quick. Then you can rest. Here, lean into me, that will take some pressure off." She pulled him closer, until his chin was over her shoulder, "There. Any better?" she asked. "Mmmhm... a little." he grunted.

She worked quickly to wrap his wounds in gauze, even as blood leaked from his sutures. The density of the bruises on his back scared her, they must cause him pain even when lying flat on the cot. Her eyes filled with tears, and she quickly blinked them away. She pinned fresh cloth pressure bandages as tightly as she dared. "All done." she said with relief.

Before she could ease Neo back onto the cot, he was taken by another fit of coughing. She gently rubbed his back as he endured the spell, knowing she'd have to change her sweater later. She could feel the rattle in his chest as he struggled for breath with every cough, and it filled her with terror.

When it finally ended, he sobbed with relief, and she gently lowered him back down onto the cot. He barely held on to consciousness through it all. Bright red blood dripped down his chin, painting the corners of his mouth, and lips. Trinity wiped it away tenderly, "Oh... Neo..." she murmured, making no attempt to hide the sadness that she felt.

He blinked hazily at her. She reached out for his hand, giving it a light squeeze, which he returned, "Am I going to die?" he asked. "I won't let that happen, Neo" she promised, massaging his hand in her own. The innocence in his voice broke her heart. She would do everything in her power to keep that promise.


	5. Chapter 5

Trinity latched the door to Neo's cabin, sighing heavily; she was dead tired. She hadn't even had a spare moment to pay respects to her fallen comrades. Closing her eyes, she leaned her forehead against the cool metal surface of the door and took a deep breath. _Hold it together, Trinity, your team needs you, _she thought to herself. A dull, persistent pounding in her temples signaled the onset of a headache.

"What happened?" Trinity started at the sound of Morpheous's voice, and spun to face him. "Your shirt-- there's blood..." he began, "Neo." she replied wearily, running a hand through her short, dark hair.

"How?" asked Morpheous. "His cough, it's gotten worse... I'm not sure how much more of this he can take. He's fighting hard, but..." she trailed off, shaking her head. He nodded slowly, feeling numb. There was nothing they could do, he kept reminding himself. If Neo was meant to survive this ordeal, he would.

"How're we doing with getting the ship back in running order? Is there anything I can do?" she asked.

"Tank is rewiring the last of the core system circuitry that was damaged during the attack... we are lucky to have had the spare parts on hand. I expect that we should be underway again within three hours." he said.

Trinity cursed under her breath, Neo didn't have that kind of time. Three more hours, plus however long it took them to get back to Zion, "You've got to be kidding me. Are there any other ships in range? If we could just get him to a medic, or a ship with a fully functional med bay--" Morpheous shook his head, "No... comm system is down." Frustrated beyond measure, but careful not to let it creep into her voice, she replied calmly, with determination, "Alright. I'll go see what I can do to help Tank." She'd had a lot of experience hacking communications hardware and software, in the Matrix as well as the real world. There was really no one on board better suited for this task.

"No," Morpheous stopped her, "forget the comm... it's completely fried. You're exhausted, you need a break-- you won't do us any good if you crash. I'll stay here with Neo. Go get something to eat, and catch some sleep." Trinity sighed, knowing he was right and hating it. "Okay..." she said, "I'll see you in a few hours," and turned to leave, "Not too few, Trinity, that's an order!" he called after her.

Morpheous turned the wheel to open the cabin door, and stepped inside. Neo was unconscious on the bunk, his face drawn and weary. His skin, shades paler than usual, was only slightly more colored than the white bandages that covered his torso. His chest moved faintly, up and down. His arms lay limp at his side. Taking a seat in the chair beside his bunk, Morpheous allowed his mind to wander.

This wasn't something that the Oracle had prepared him for. She had told him that he would find The One, and that The One would face great trials and sacrifices. She hadn't been any more specific than that. How were things supposed to unfold now that The One had been found? This was a major setback, to be sure. If Neo even survived, his recovery would almost certainly be long and painful. _And possibly not even complete,_ thought Morpheous. _But it's his mind that's extraordinary, _he reminded himself, _it is what's in his head that matters most, humanity's most valuable asset._And it was true. As long as Neo could still jack in, the prophecy, as Morpheous understood it, held.

Morpheous had seen his fair share of death, both inside and outside of the Matrix, and looking down right now, he felt as though he were looking at a dead man. Neo had beaten the Agents, but paid a heavy price. Having the will to live only carries a person so far, and he had seen stronger men succumb to lesser injuries.

A soft groan pulled him back from dark thoughts. It was Neo. "Trin?" he called out, his voice quiet and gravely.

"She's asleep. I'm staying with you right now." Neo cracked his eyelids and focused on Morpheous's face, "Trin... Trinity..." he corrected himself, feeling a little embarrassed calling her that in

front of their captain.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked. Neo grimaced, turning his head away, his mouth felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton, "Pills... for my..." he swallowed, willing the words to come, "Everything hurts..." he managed. Morpheous found the bottle of pain killers on the floor next to the bunk, pouring several into his hand, he helped Neo sit up enough to swallow the tablets. _He's probably already had more than he should,_ thought Morpheous, but they had to give him something for the pain.

Neo grunted as Morpheous eased him back down onto the bunk, "Thanks" he muttered, his eyes drifting closed again. The pain was all-consuming, there was no escape from it. He felt so weak, he didn't think he could so much as raise a hand if his life depended on it. Right about now, he was wishing he'd never even heard of the Matrix, or agents, or the prophecy. His only reprieve from suffering came in the form of brief stints of sleep, when his exhaustion got the better of him.

"You're warm..." said Morpheous, feeling his forehead. He was alarmed to find that Neo was a little feverish. His mind began to race-- Was it the trauma his body received the day before, or was infection starting to set in? He remembered from his training that extreme trauma can cause temperature change in the body, and he silently prayed that's all it was.

"It's nothing," Neo lied, "Just... need more rest." He didn't want to show weakness in front of his captain, even though he was feeling worse than ever. In addition to the pain and weakness, his nausea had returned, and he felt the beginnings of chills.

Morpheous easily saw through Neo's attempt at bravado. Trinity had briefed him on the full extent of his injuries, "Neo, you need a doctor. You're not going to get better without one. My goal is to keep you alive until then." Neo only blinked in response, quietly grateful that Morpheous saw through his act. Nodding slowly, he said, "Alright."

"Is there anything I can do... to make you more comfortable?" Morpheous offered. Neo thought for a minute before answering, "...some better meds? The pain's a bitch." he laughed roughly, wincing at the discomfort it caused. The older man shook his head, "I'm sorry, this is all we have."

"What if I went into the Matrix, and took, say, some morphine?" he asked. "That would work," said Morpheous, "you would feel the effects of it in the real world, at least for a little while. However, everything was destroyed in the attack. We can't jack in, the equipment is in need of extensive repairs. I'm sorry, Neo."

Neo groaned, suddenly feeling the unsuppressible urge to cough again. He struggled to pull himself onto his side, muttering a stream of curses at the pain the movement caused. "Neo?" Morpheous asked, alarmed, "What's wrong?" He put a hand on the other mans back in a gesture of support. Neo couldn't reply, he gripped the bedding tightly as his body was wracked with coughs, grateful for the feeling of Morpheous's strong hands holding his shoulders through it. The coughs were deep, and each one shook Neo's entire body; it took all of his energy not to choke. His eyes brimmed with tears that soon spilled down his cheeks. He held his midriff protectively, as though the posture would grant him some relief from the agony he felt.

As blood and mucus rose in his throat, he held a hand to his mouth. Gagging at the bitter taste, he spat onto the floor, and fought to keep himself from vomiting, "God... this sucks... I'm sorry about..." he panted, gesturing at the floor. After the spell had ended, he wiped the blood from his lips and the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, "I'll clean it up." he offered.

"No," said Morpheous, "Be still, I will take care of it."

Neo couldn't argue with that, he doubted he could clean up the mess even if Morpheous hadn't volunteered to. He fell back to the mattress, trembling, just barely managing to stifle the pained cry that rose in his throat as his body came into contact with it.

Morpheous bent to clean up the mess on the floor, the room was silent save for Neo's ragged breathing.

"Ugh... shit... Morpheous?" he groaned, voice wavering, "I think-- I'm going to be sick." Morpheous responded, puzzled, "You're getting sick?" Neo swallowed, "I mean... sick, as in..." Suddenly he understood, moving quickly to place the basin within reach. "Thanks," Neo breathed, griping the basin with one hand, relief evident in his voice, "I don't understand why I feel like this..."

Morpheous thought for a minute, "It is strange... but probably to do with the shock your body and mind have just endured," Morpheous put a hand on the other mans brow, which now felt overtly warm to the touch, "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Neo nodded gratefully, steeling himself against the waves of nausea that assaulted him.

* * *

Trinity began pulling off her clothes and boots as soon as she entered her quarters. Finally overcome with exhaustion, she reached the bed at last and collapsed onto it. Her bunk had never felt so comfortable.

She thought sleep would find her quickly, but her mind was still racing, and her thoughts returned again and again to Neo. Deep down, she was afraid. She would never admit it, never allow it to affect her judgment or hinder her ability to perform her duties, but it was there at the back of her mind, nonetheless. She couldn't shake this terrible feeling that she would lose him.

When she thought about it that way, she felt horribly selfish. _He's supposed to be humanity's savior, for fuck's sake, when it comes to this guy and his well-being, your personal feelings for him should be the least of your concerns,_ she chastised herself, _and what about Neo? What about __**his**__ life? He never asked for any of this._

It hurt to think about, the prospect of him dying like this. He was so trusting, had followed them-- strangers-- "down the rabbit hole" with an open mind, and no real inclination as to how critical a role he would be asked to play. With nothing to lose, and no way home, he had adapted marvelously well to his new life, especially given his age-- which she guessed to be about 30 years give or take.

The real turning point had come yesterday, when he surprised all of them. He had performed marvelously, but it hadn't been enough. He wasn't ready to face _them_ by himself. _If I hadn't jacked out, _she thought, bitterly, _if we hadn't lingered while the phone was ringing. _But the past is past and, now, he lay bleeding in a cabin down the way from her own, clinging to life. Morpheous was a firm believer in that whatever happened, happened for a reason. This was one of the many ideals Trinity did not share with him, and she didn't know how she would be able to forgive herself if Neo died.

She was struck again by how little they knew about this man, their so-called savior. Sure, they had followed Neo's exploits closely, and had amassed a wealth of information pertaining to his skills, preferences, and conquests as a hacker and computer hobbyist. But they knew precious little about his humanity. It saddened her to think about this, perhaps it was the irony of knowing so little about the life of a man who was intended to be the savior of all others.

_I hope I have more time to get to know him, _was her final thought before she fell, at long last, into the welcoming embrace of sleep.

* * *

Several cabins down from Trinity's, Neo was not so fortunate. He was as exhausted as she, probably moreso, but sleep refused to find him. He had been able to successfully ward off the nausea, but time and again, pain pulled him back from the edge of unconsciousness.

He had asked for more medication, but Morpheous refused, citing it as a possible cause for the nausea he felt earlier. Had he been lucid, he would have agreed with and understood the older man's decision. Instead, he was cursing him under his breath and eying the bottle of pain killers. At the back of his mind, Neo knew that the medication would barely put a dent in what he was feeling, but he longed to have the edge taken off, nonetheless.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey there folks... here's the next chapter. Sorry they're so few and far between, school has been kicking my ass lately. Thanks again for the reviews, keep 'em coming! It inspires me to write faster. ;o)

Where do you think the story should go from here? I can keep writing about the same thing, but poor Neo needs to get better sometime... I suppose I could jump directly to Zion? Please do send me your thoughts/opinions!

***********

The sentinel's impact threw Neo from where he lay sleeping on the bunk, to a spot on the floor half-way across his small cabin. He landed on his side with a sickening thud, and the unmistakable feeling that he had ruptured a suture, or three. It took a moment for the pain to register, but when it did it sent him reeling. Curling into the fetal position, he hugged his abdomen, gritted his teeth, and swallowed the screams that wanted to come.

Before he could think about moving, let alone grasp what was happening, another impact sent him flying backward into the squared corner of a metal utility chest. Bruised flesh and broken ribs connected with steel, and this time he could not suppress the cry that rose in his throat. The pain brought tears to his eyes.

Several more impacts followed, accompanied by the horrible sound of metal rending metal directly above his head. He managed to get his fingers under the lid of the utility chest. Grabbing the rim, he held on with all of his strength.

He could hear frantic shouts from the rest of the crew now, "Charge the EMP!" it was Morpheous, barking orders to Tank. Trinity raced by his cabin on her way to join them in the core. He could tell it was her by the sound her boots made as they struck the grated metal causeway. "What the _fuck_ is going on?!" she yelled ahead, her voice fading down the dimly lit corridor. _That's definitely Trinity,_ he thought, with a smirk.

Neo could taste electricity in the air when the EMP was triggered. After the crackling dwindled away, the ship fell black and silent. His own, ragged breaths sounded overly loud in his ears as he lay staring at the door, cheek pressed to the gritty metal floor of his cabin. The smell of grease and oxidizing metal filled his nostrils.

Several long minutes passed before life stirred elsewhere on the ship, the clang of metal, followed by hurried footsteps. Emergency lights flickered on, bringing with them the familiar, fluorescent hum he'd grown so accustomed to. He strained to make out their voices, "How... attack... threw... too late... tracking...", but caught only snippets of the conversation.

He knew he was bleeding, could feel the warmth of it seeping through his bandages. He lifted the hand that he still held pressed against his abdomen. In the dim light, he could see it was covered with blood, "Shit... god damn it... this is bad," he swore. Grimacing, he applied more pressure to the wound. He had to leave the room, had to get help.

He struggled to push himself to his knees, and by leaning on the utility chest he was able to stand upright fully, with great effort. He groaned as his body rebelled against the motion, vision swimming, knees shaking, almost to the point of buckling, "Trinity!" he called out, unconsciously. Carefully, he walked his hands across the wall to grab the nearest protrusion, a metal utility pipe.

Finally he worked his way to the door and managed to wrench it open, his bandaged torso red with blood. Feeling light-headed, he nearly tripped as he picked his feet up and over the tall threshold, at last making it into the hallway.

***

The Neb had really been kicked while she was down, Trinity had never seen it so bad. Whatever hadn't been damaged in the sentinel attack the day before, had been taken out with this latest offense. She was working to bring at least part of the proximity alarm system back on line. They wouldn't be able to withstand another attack, the ship simply couldn't take it.

"Trin..." she heard her name, spoken so softly she almost thought she'd imagined it. There was no mistaking that the voice belonged to Neo, Trinity turned from her work at the console. He stood there in the harsh light, ashen face slick with sweat, clutching his midsection and leaning heavily against a support beam that angled up from the floor. "Neo! What the _hell_ are you doing?" she barked at him. He had no business being out of bed.

"Trin.. I...I..." he opened and closed his mouth several times, but no sound came out. Bowing his head, he doubled over in pain, "Shhhiiiitt..." he groaned hoarsely, swaying where he stood. Then he began to cough, it was a harsh, barking sound, as though there was fluid that needed to be expelled, but he was unable to do so. He didn't understand why his chest felt so full, but his coughs were dry. Suddenly the room was tilting on its side, and he could feel his knees giving way. She saw the blood on him, saw it dripping onto the grated floor, through the slits and onto the service catwalk below.

She ran to his side, hoisting most of his weight just as he began to sink to the floor. He looked up at her then, the pain in his eyes verging on panic. Heart and mind racing, she half-carried, half-dragged him to the nearest jack-in chair, and helped him into it. His body was alarmingly warm to the touch, immediately her hand went to his brow, "Jesus Christ, Neo... you're burning up. And _what the fuck _were you thinking? What happened?" she asked, more gently this time.

"I'm... I'm bleeding..." he stated the obvious, holding up his hand to show her, "I can see that," she scoffed, "What happened?" she repeated the question. He swallowed hard, "Something hit us... was there a sentinel attack? It threw me, I was asleep," he managed.

"Yes... they must have snuck up on us, half of our perimeter alarms were still down from yesterday. It's also possible that they tracked us."

"Where are we? Much closer to Zion?" he asked, smiling wanly "Morpheous said we have been underway for several hours." she said, "But I'm not _exactly_ sure where we are. I hope to God, Neo, for your sake, that we're closer to Zion," she finished, her face grim.

"You have a fever," she said, effectively changing the subject. "Probably infection starting to set in. Damn it... I don't think we have any antibiotics on board," she paused, "Dozer would know..." pain flashed across her face as she spoke the name.

The pair fell into silence. Trinity dabbed sweat from Neo's face and neck. Sitting on the arm of the jack-in chair, she held his hand. Focusing on her face was the only thing keeping him sane at this point. He could see in her eyes that she was suffering, and under enormous strain. He knew that his condition was only part of what troubled her. There was something she wasn't telling him, but he didn't feel right asking.

Trinity, too, had been sleeping when the attack started. What she left out when talking to Neo, was that they had lost Tank during the attack. He didn't need to know that right now, didn't need the additional burden. And she couldn't bring herself to talk about it, especially with Neo. A long, metal tentacle had snaked into the core from a gash in the Neb's battered hull. In its frantic flailing motions, the tentacle hit Tank and threw him viciously from the operator's chair. His impact with the core's steel bulkhead split his skull open. There was nothing Trinity or Morpheous, or anyone, could have done to save him. He was killed almost instantly.

Trinity broke the silence, "Let me take a look at you." He nodded. She cut away the bandages and peeled back layers of blood-soaked gauze and cloth. She pursed her lips to conceal a grimace, "It's not... all that bad... Really." He regarded her incredulously, "Really?" She nodded, "It looks like I just need to stitch you up in two or three places," she said. He groaned at this prospect.

"I'll be gentle." she promised, "Can't be gentle enough, Trin," he cautioned, "My entire body feels like it's been put through a tenderizer." Trinity smiled sadly in response, "I know... I'm sorry." she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek, "I'll be right back."

Minutes later, she returned from med bay with her materials, and a blanket. "Take these," she said, emptying the contents of her hand into his open palm. It was more pain pills, which he swallowed without water.

She wrapped the blanket around his legs, and pulled it up as far as she could without covering his injuries, "Feed a fever," she said aloud. "What?" he asked. Trinity blushed, "Oh, it's something my mother used to tell me. Feed a fever means when someone has a fever, keep them warm. Feed warmth into the fever. The opposite saying is, 'starve a cold', meaning that if someone is chilled keep them warm. Feed warmth into the cold-- starve it."

Neo half-smiled a this colloquial witticism, _very cute, very un-Trinity-like,_ he thought, "Funny," he said, "I'd have thought it meant you give food to a person who has a fever. And make a person who has a cold, starve." She laughed softly, "I used to think that too, when I was a kid..."

"How am I going to keep your mind off of this?" she asked, her face serious, as she began to prep. He snorted, thinking to himself that it was an absurd proposition, there was really nothing she could do. This was going to be agonizing, unless she would be willing to knock him out, literally. He considered asking her to do just that, but thought better of it, "Uhmm... I think you owe me a war story?" he managed a small smile.

Trinity smiled, secretly charmed that he'd remembered to ask her, that he was interested, "Oh yeah? I guess I do..." she replied casually, threading the needle and putting it aside. She felt his body tense as she cleaned the wounds carefully with fresh water. More blood began to pool as soon as she wiped the old away, it was then that she realized how badly he was bleeding, "God, Neo... this is..." she didn't finish. She suddenly found it hard to speak, again feeling overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the past 24 hours.

"Trin..." he said softly, taking her hand and pulling her close. She didn't resist. His heart raced... he had no idea what he was going to do, or how she would respond-- but he didn't care, couldn't help it. He needed to feel this closeness with her, right now. And his instincts told him she needed to feel it too. "Trin..." he repeated, "I'm so sorry..." he kissed her forehead, "I love you. I love you so much." he said, brushing a strand of hair away from her face, "No matter what happens, none of this is your fault. None of it." she bit her lip and blinked hard, she wasn't going to let him see her cry. She felt immense relief at hearing someone tell her _this isn't your fault,_ it meant a lot.

"I love you too, Neo." she breathed into the crook of his neck. She shook her head, "Switch... Apoc.... Tank... Mouse..." Neo tensed, "Tank?" Trinity cursed, "Shit... Neo... I was going to tell you later, I swear, but... we lost Tank." she said, her eyes brimming, "During the attack. Sentinel... crushed his skull." her stoic facade crumbled. Putting a hand over her mouth, she blinked and tears spilled down her cheeks. Her back hitched as she turned away from him, sobbing quietly, "Everything... I've lost everything that mattered to me. All of them are gone... everyone I've ever cared about. Everything I've ever known since coming here..."

He stroked her back soothingly, it was his turn to comfort her, "I didn't even get to say goodbye..." she whispered. She needed him to listen, and he was happy to do it, _though I wish I wasn't in the process of bleeding out, __**right **__fucking now, _he thought grimly.

"God... I'm sorry, Neo. You're hurt... this isn't the right time." she placed a hand on the side of his face, her eyes filled with shame and remorse for this display of selfish weakness. She had put herself before Neo, a member of her crew, someone whose well-being she was largely responsible for.

Neo managed a small smile, "No, this feels right. I want you to feel like you can talk to me about anything, when you need to." She nodded. Pulling her down towards him, he placed a small kiss on her mouth.

His lips felt like fire, she wasn't sure how much of it was because of his fever, and how much could be attributed to the passion they felt for one another. He used his tongue to moisten her lips, pressing against them lightly, requesting entry. He opened his mouth as the kiss deepened, gasping softly when she started to suck on his tongue, while her hand moved to massage his groin. _I can't believe how much better this is in the real world, with her, _he kept thinking.

"Mmm, Trin... that... that feels r- really.... good." he murmured, breaths quickening. He suddenly gasped as a sharp pain shot through his chest, and his hand went instinctively to it, "Ouch..." he said, grimacing as he rubbed the offending area gingerly. "What is it?" she asked, "I"m not sure... chest pain." he swallowed hard.

"Let's get you sewn up." she said, giving him one last kiss on the cheek, "Ugh..." he groaned, "I've always hated needles..." She smiled, "Well, then let me tell you about the time I brought down half the network of an international bank," she grinned wickedly.

Taking a clean cloth, she applied pressure to one of Neo's wounds, to stop the bleeding. He sucked in a sharp breath, his knuckles went white from gripping the jack-in chair. "Ow... ow ow ow, Trin, ow...shit!" he whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut and shrinking back into the chair.

"Sorry, I have to slow the bleeding before I can close the wound. You have to hold still." she responded, continuing the apply pressure. He nodded, "I know... thank you. It just hurts... a lot" He focused on steadying his breathing, and not passing out.

"Once, when I was younger," she began, "I managed to cause all kinds of havoc at the International Bank of Asia headquarters in Malaysia... There are a lot of stupid sysadmins out there," she stated, "I mean, let's face it: technology people working at most mega-corps aren't exactly at the top of their game, unless they're really senior, or doing really cutting edge work."

He snorted, "Tell me about it. I knew enough of those drones at MetaCortex. Half of them just wanted a paycheck. That's what working at place like that does to a person."

She nodded, "I've come to think most of the best hackers are either operating independently, working for some obscure grey-hat R&D firm, or have been 'recruited' by secretive government agencies," she peeked under the cloth she was holding over Neo's wound, "Still bleeding," and applied more pressure. He groaned softly as the pain intensified, she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, "stay with me, Neo."

"So these tech guys-- I'd hardly call them hackers-- employed by most big corps are, at best, equipped to handle the day-in and day-out operational responsibilities of the job," she paused, "You know... like server backups, adding firewall rules, creating user accounts, patching boxes, laying cable, replacing bad hardware, routine service ticket stuff." He nodded in agreement.

She continued, "what they didn't expect, was for me to go poking around their network," she smirked, then, "I mean _obviously_, judging by how fast they lost their shit, they didn't expect it!" he could tell from the tone of her voice that part of her loved the thrill of causing chaos with her hacks.

"From what I could tell, they didn't even have a contingency plan. I found it especially shocking, as they're a damn financial institution." she shook her head, "Swear to god... better off keeping your money in a sock under your mattress."

Neo couldn't help but laugh at her last remark, even though the motion made him wince, "Maybe so, but your mattress doesn't pay interest..."

"Point taken. Anyway..." she went on, "As it turned out, they didn't like to patch their boxes on a very regular basis. I knew of a recent exploit in the Apache web server that allowed me to flood their boxes with huge packets of trash data. You can see where I'm going with this..." he raised his eyebrows, "Uh huh..."

"Wrote up a neat little script, jumped on an anonymous proxy, and took down their servers one at a time. They fell like dominoes. Within 10 minutes, nobody could access anything on their domain. Site stayed down for six hours while they were trying to figure out what the fuck had happened, and bring the boxes back online."

Then she became serious, "_Damn_ lucky I didn't get caught, would have been in a world of shit. I hadn't been hacking for very long, then," she admitted, "But had a few successes early on that emboldened me to the point of being stupid about it."

Neo nodded, "Hey, we're all lucky. I did a lot of dumb, reckless shit when I was younger. Hell, even recently. Did they fix their boxes after that?" She nodded, "Yeah, I checked back in with them a month or so later, no dice. I read in the news that they lost tens of millions that day, fired the VP of Technology and hired a consultant. I guess I did them a favor. Go figure." Neo whistled, "Impressive... Trin, stickin' it to the man." he joked.

She looked at the injury again, "Mmhmm... bleeding a lot less now." Carefully, she cut away and removed the old surgical thread that had been ripped out. It stung, but Neo was able to bear it stoically.

She reached for the needle and positioned it above the ragged gash in his abdomen, "Ready?" He gulped, "No, not really... but... it has to be done." She nodded, "I'll be as quick as I can, in and out, so to speak." He scoffed, "Yeah, in and out. And in and out... and in and out."

When she pierced him with the needle, he gritted his teeth, steeling himself against the pain. Quickly she passed it through the other side, completing one stitch. "Just a few more of those, Neo, and we'll take a break. Okay?" but so intense was the pain, he couldn't answer her.

She went for another stitch, he groaned as the needle struck a nerve. The burning sensation blazed a trail up his body. She continued working as quickly as she dared. His body was shaking now, from the effort of trying to manage the pain. His face was covered in sweat, and had been drained of what little color it had to begin with.

"Trin..." he breathed, "can we take a break? I need it to stop...." he pleaded. He felt so hot and exhausted, he swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. His body was rebelling against him in every possible way, "I can't... I can't do this..."

His words weighed heavily on her heart, "I'm almost done. Hang in there. Please try to hold still, if you move around this will take longer." A sob rose in his throat, "Fuck, this hurts. Trin..." Doing his best to quell the shaking in his body, he willed himself to be still. "I know... just bear with me... almost there." she said, "one more stitch..." the needle made its last pass, and she tied off the thread in a surgical knot, "There. Two more to go."

"No..." he said, "See if pressure will stop the bleeding." his voice trembled, his eyes pleaded with her, "no more needles, I don't care." Trinity applied pressure to the other two wounds that were bleeding, "Owww...shiiiit!" he gasped, and his back arched against her hands. He put a hand on top of hers where she held the cloth pressed tightly against him, "I'll hold this one," he offered.

"Thanks." she said, pulling the blanket up to cover him completely, she tucked it around him carefully. Leaning down for a kiss, she used her free hand to caress his cheek, "I love you. You're going to make it," she promised, "Not that much farther," and it wasn't a lie, since she didn't really know how far they were from Zion. Neo drifted out of consciousness then, and his pain was reduced to a dull, ever-present ache.


End file.
